Cavaliers notes: Kinsey keeps the faith

It's not like shooting guard Tarence Kinsey barged his way into Cavaliers coach Mike Brown's rotation, but he is starting to assert himself.

The 6-foot-6, 189-pounder played in all four games of the West Coast trip and helped the Cavs beat Golden State last Friday with 11 points and three rebounds.

"It feels good to get an opportunity," Kinsey said. "When your name is called, you have to take advantage of the situation."

His 11-point effort, which matched his season high, was needed against the Warriors.

Advertisement

"I feel like I played well," Kinsey said. "Mostly, I was having fun. It was needed at the time. We needed a spark. I was able to provide that."

Kinsey isn't sure what he needs to do to remain in Brown's good graces. He's playing behind Sasha Pavlovic, Wally Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson.

"It's out of my hands," Kinsey said. "You continue to do the things you were doing and busting your butt in practice. Basically, I want to stay ready."

Unless there is another injury or a change to the rotation, it's going to be difficult for Kinsey to play regular minutes.

"T.K. is a great guy," Brown said. "He works his tail off to stay ready. It was great to see him step out there, get some minutes, be productive and really be a key factor in the outcome of the ball game."

Kinsey scored nine points on 4-for-6 shooting Wednesday in the Cavaliers' 117-110 win over the Kings.

Another SI cover

Cavs forward LeBron James makes his eighth appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. The number dates to his junior year at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.

The cover story is entitled, "The Power of LeBron," and deals with how James is "bigger, stronger and smarter than before."

Old friend

Kings interim coach Kenny Natt spent two years on Brown's staff in Cleveland, helping the Cavs advance to the NBA Finals in 2007. There's a chance he could return next year, since the Kings own a team option on a 2009 contract worth a little under $2 million.

A source said the Kings must decide by May 1.

"He came from a good program and learned under one of the best coaches of all-time in (Utah's) Jerry Sloan," Brown said. "He was here for a couple years, but he had an impact here.

"It's good to see him patrolling the sidelines. Hopefully, when the camera shows him tonight, they don't put my name under his picture. It's happened before when he was an assistant here. I don't want a case of mistaken identity with anyone."

Natt, who took over for the fired Reggie Theus on Dec. 15, is 4-17 heading into the Cavs game.

Z's return

Everything is pointing toward Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas returning for Thursday's game against Orlando. He plans on practicing today at Cleveland Clinic Courts and flying with the team to Florida.

Neither Brown nor the team doctors have signed off on Ilgauskas playing on Thursday.

"It's a gut feel," Brown said. "After practice, I'll see what I feel. No one has told me Z has been cleared for Thursday."

Correction

Counting Tuesday's game with Sacramento, the Cavs have four games remaining before the cutoff to decide who will coach in the All-Star game.

Brown is vying with Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy for the honor. The Cavs travel to Orlando on Thursday, host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and travel to Detroit on Sunday. The team with the best winning percentage after Sunday's games will coach the Eastern Conference team.